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Finance (No. 2) Bill

The Liberal Democrats sympathise with what the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson) is seeking to achieve with new clause 10 and new schedule 1. I want to refer to early-day motion 214, which has attracted nearly 270 signatures and which relates to new clause 10. The hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) has added his name to it, so I shall be intrigued to see how the Whip on the Finance Bill advises his troops to vote. New clause 10 would add complication to the stamp duty system, if the discounts were to operate in the same way as the already complex slab system. Furthermore, I am not sure whether I would be happy to subsidise improvements, environmentally laudable as they may be, to the home of the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron). It is a good opportunity to press the Government on how they intend to improve environmental standards in existing buildings. Like, I am sure, many other hon. Members, I look forward to the Financial Secretary’s response. However, I have a couple of queries about enforcement. I understand that, if people say at the point of purchase that they wish to undertake improvements, they would qualify for a lower rate of stamp duty. However, what would happen if they did not carry out the improvements? Furthermore, with the Government proposing many plans to build many new houses, what incentives will there be to ensure that environmental measures are included when they are built?